Cabrera de Mar: Passivhaus Plus home

Single-family home in Cabrera de Mar, Barcelona, certified Passivhaus Plus by Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings and designed by the architect Víctor Blanco of the VBTArquitecte office, with Alfred Núñez Aparicio as Passivhaus Designer.

Passivhaus Plus home in Cabrera de Mar

Passivhaus Certification

Praxis cabecera proyectos

Description

Single-family home in Cabrera de Mar, Barcelona, certified Passivhaus Plus by Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings and designed by the architect Víctor Blanco of the VBTArquitecte office, with Alfred Núñez Aparicio as Passivhaus Designer.

The house has a ground floor, first floor and basement with a floor area of 249 m2. The Izodom construction system, with Passivhaus component certification, has 50mm BASF Neopor insulation on the inside and 150mm on the outside, which surrounds the reinforced concrete structure and eliminates thermal bridges. The roof is insulated with 160mm of XPS insulation, with 150mm on the floors. Passivhaus certified WERU Afino One PVC frames, together with low emissivity triple glazing with argon gas and external blinds, make up the high-performance windows.

The Blower Door test, carried out by Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings, gave an excellent result of n50 = 0.4 ach, even with a cooker hood extracting to outside with a Naber Thermobox non-return valve.

A Passivhaus certified Zehnder Comfoair Q450 sensible heat recovery unit takes care of the controlled mechanical ventilation.

Heating and cooling are with Daikin RXM + FDX/FBA air-to-air heat pumps and ducted indoor units.

A separate Daikin ERWQ02AV3 heat pump provides domestic hot water. A 6.8 kWp photovoltaic generator will generate approximately 131% of the home’s annual energy consumption, making it a final energy net zero energy building.

Links:

PepiPHA

Photos: Alfred Núñez Aparicio

  • Year: 2023
  • Location: Cabrera de Mar, Barcelona
  • Architecture: Olga Garcia Gomez, Alfred Núñez Aparicio
  • Services provided by Praxis: Passivhaus certification, thermal bridge calculations, Blower Door airtightness tests
  • Passivhaus Certification Class: Passivhaus Plus
  • Floor area: 249 m2
  • Thermal envelope area: 744 m2
  • Blower Door result: 0,4 n50
  • Heating Demand: 2 kWh/m2·a
  • Cooling Demand: 15 kWh/m2·a
  • Primary Energy Renewable consumption (EPR): 35 kWh/m2·a
  • Final Energy consumption: 26 kWh/m2·a
  • Renewable energy generation: 66 kWh/m2·a
  • CO2eq emissions: 14 kg/m2·a

Terrassa Haus: multi-family Passivhaus Classic

Terrassa Haus is the first multi-residential building to receive Passivhaus certification in the city of Terrasa, Catalonia, Spain. The project was developed by Cambolico and designed by architects Antoni Espona & Xavier Torcal. Oliver Style and Bega Clavero from Praxis Resilient Buildings carried out the Passivhaus consultancy, HVAC design and Blower Door testing.

Terrassa Haus

Passivhaus Consultancy

Praxis cabecera proyectos

Description

Terrassa Haus is the first multi-residential building to receive Passivhaus certification in the city of Terrasa, Catalonia, Spain. The project was developed by Cambolico and designed by architects Antoni Espona & Xavier Torcal. Oliver Style and Bega Clavero from Praxis Resilient Buildings carried out the Passivhaus consultancy, HVAC design and Blower Door testing. The building achieved Passivhaus Classic certification.  

The ground floor offers 2 commercial spaces, with a further three floors with apartments ranging from 76 m2 to 154 m2. The building has a total floor area of 1142m2 and includes a communal co-working space, bike room, gym, and communal pool.

With an existing concrete structure that had been abandoned during the economic crisis of 2007, an external thermal insulation system with EPS insulation was applied over ceramic brick and rendered, with a further 5cm of Knauf Insulation mineral wool inside in the service void. The roof is insulated with XPS insulation. Rehau PVC windows frames with argon-filled low-e coated glazing make up the openings, with Swisspacer insulated glazing spacers to further reduce heat loss.

Heating, cooling and hot water is provided by individual Hitachi all-in-one heat pumps in each apartment. Similarly, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is provided by individual Soler & Palau Passivhaus certified ventilation units, with intake air drawn in from the façade walls and stale air extracted to the roof with shared extract ducts.

Links:

PepiPHA

Photos: Terrassa Haus

  • Year: 2023
  • Location: Terrassa, Barcelona, España
  • Architecture: Antoni Espona & Xavier Torcal
  • Services provided by Praxis: Passivhaus Consultancy, thermal bridge calculations, building physics, heating-cooling-DHW-ventilation system design, Blower Door airtightness tests
  • Passivhaus Certification Class: Passivhaus Classic
  • Floor area: 1.142 m2
  • Thermal envelope area: 1.500 m2
  • Blower Door result: 0,6 n50
  • Heating Demand: 10 kWh/m2·a
  • Cooling Demand: 15 kWh/m2·a
  • Primary Energy Renewable consumption (EPR): 60 kWh/m2·a
  • Final Energy consumption: 50 kWh/m2·a
  • Renewable energy generation: 0 kWh/m2·a
  • CO2eq emissions: 18 kg/m2·a

Casa Oeste, Rupia: Low energy home

Single family home in Rupia, Girona, Catalonia, designed by the Nordest Arquitectura and built by Evowall. Oliver Style and Bega Clavero of Praxis Resilient Buildings were Passivhaus consultants for the project. The building has been certified as a PHI Low Energy Building. 

Casa Oeste, Rupia

Passivhaus Consultancy

Praxis cabecera proyectos

Description

Single family home in Rupia, Girona, Catalonia, designed by the Nordest Arquitectura and built by Evowall. Oliver Style and Bega Clavero of Praxis Resilient Buildings were Passivhaus consultants for the project. The building has been certified as a PHI Low Energy Building. 

The home is built with the Evowall steel-frame prefabricated construction system, consisting of a proprietary low-conductivity mortar, EPS and PIR insulation, with the outer walls either rendered or finished with rammed earth blocks.  

Timber window frames and low-e argon filled solar control glazing make up the openings.  

Ventilation is provided with a Zehnder balanced mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery.  

Heating and cooling are with an air-to-air mini VRF Panasonic heat pump with five ducted indoor split units. Domestic Hot Water is supplied by a Panasonic air-to-water heat pump.   A roof-mounted 8,1 kWp solar PV generator generates a projected 124% of the home’s total energy consumption. 

Links:

PepiPHA

Photos: Evowall

  • Year: 2023
  • Location: Rupia, Girona, España
  • Architecture: Nordest Arquitectura SLP
  • Services provided by Praxis: Passivhaus Consultancy, thermal bridge calculations, building physics, heating-cooling-DHW-ventilation system design, Blower Door airtightness tests
  • Passivhaus Certification Class: PHI Low Energy Building
  • Floor area: 173 m2
  • Thermal envelope area: 778 m2
  • Blower Door result: 1 n50
  • Heating Demand: 30 kWh/m2·a
  • Cooling Demand: 10 kWh/m2·a
  • Primary Energy Renewable consumption (EPR): 41 kWh/m2·a
  • Final Energy consumption: 45 kWh/m2·a
  • Renewable energy generation: 48 kWh/m2·a
  • CO2eq emissions: 18 kg/m2·a

Casa Este, Rupia: Low energy home

Single family home in Rupia, Girona, Catalonia, designed by the Nordest Arquitectura and built by Evowall. The building was designed to meet PHI Low Energy Building standard, with Oliver Style and Bega Clavero of Praxis Resilient Buildings as Passivhaus consultants. 

Casa Este, Rupia: Low energy home

Passivhaus Consultancy

Praxis cabecera proyectos

Description

Single family home in Rupia, Girona, Catalonia, designed by the Nordest Arquitectura and built by Evowall. The building was designed to meet PHI Low Energy Building standard, with Oliver Style and Bega Clavero of Praxis Resilient Buildings as Passivhaus consultants. 

The home is built with the Evowall steel-frame prefabricated construction system, consisting of a proprietary low-conductivity mortar, EPS and PIR insulation, with the outer walls rendered or finished with rammed earth blocks.  

Timber window frames and low-e argon filled solar control glazing make up the openings.  

Ventilation is with a Zehnder balanced mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery.  

Heating and cooling are with an air-to-air mini VRF Panasonic heat pump with five ducted indoor split units. Domestic Hot Water is supplied by a Panasonic air-to-water heat pump.  

A roof-mounted 8,1 kWp solar PV generator generates a projected 92% of the home’s total energy consumption. 

Links:

PepiPHA

Photos: Evowall

  • Year: 2023
  • Location: Rupia, Girona, España
  • Architecture: Nordest Arquitectura SLP
  • Services provided by Praxis: Passivhaus Consultancy, thermal bridge calculations, building physics, heating-cooling-DHW-ventilation system design, Blower Door airtightness tests
  • Passivhaus Certification Class
  • Floor area: 179 m2
  • Thermal envelope area: 769 m2
  • Blower Door result: 2,4 n50
  • Heating Demand: 30 kWh/m2·a
  • Cooling Demand: 8 kWh/m2·a
  • Primary Energy Renewable consumption (EPR): 46 kWh/m2·a
  • Final Energy consumption: 59 kWh/m2·a
  • Renewable energy generation: 49 kWh/m2·a
  • CO2eq emissions: 18 kg/m2·a

Cabana GR4: Low energy home

PHI Low Energy Building certification for single family house with a treated floor area of 125.4 m², located in Castellcir, Barcelona.

Cabana GR4 Passivhaus

Passivhaus

Praxis cabecera proyectos

Description

PHI Low Energy Building certification for single family house with a treated floor area of 125.4 m², located in Castellcir, Barcelona. Designed by Lluís Jubert of Taller d´Arquitectura, promoted by Núria Grau and Jaume Ribas and built by Albert Fargas of Farhaus.  

The construction system is lightweight timber frame, using low-emission, bio-based materials with low environmental impact to reduce the building’s carbon footprint and provide a healthy indoor environment. The high level of insulation, minimised thermal bridges and triple low-e glazing with Farhaus timber frames, reduce heating energy demand in the winter. In the summer, external blinds reduce solar gains and overheating. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is provided by a Zehnder ComfoAir 180 HRV.

As part of the Passivhaus audit, Praxis revised the calculations and design documentation presented by the Passivhaus Consultant, which include architectural and M&E drawings and reports, the PHPP calculation, the Blower Door test report, ventilation commissioning documentation and photographs of the construction process and the completed building.

Links:

International Passivhaus Projects database

Spanish Passivhaus Platform (PEP) project database

Year: 2021

Location: Castellcir, Barcelona

Services:
Passivhaus certification

Casa AYA: straw bale passive house, Uruguay

Casa AYA is the first straw bale home built to Passivhaus standard in Latin America. Designed by Martin Comas of Arquitectura Regenerativa – aRRe, with Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Building providing Passivhaus audits, the home is located in Carrasco, Uruguay.

Casa AYA

Passivhaus

Praxis cabecera proyectos

Description

Casa AYA is the first straw bale home built to Passivhaus standard in Latin America. Designed by Martin Comas of Arquitectura Regenerativa – aRRe, with Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Building providing Passivhaus audits, the home is located in Carrasco, Uruguay.

During the Passivhaus certification process, Praxis audited the calculation and design documents presented by the Passivhaus Designer, including the PHPP energy model, thermal bridge calculations, architectural and service drawings and reports, the Blower Door test report, the ventilation commissioning report, and photographic documentation of the construction process, to ensure that the building was built as designed and as calculated in the PHPP model.

Photos: Martin Comas

Enlaces:

International Passivhaus Projects database:

Year: 2022

Location: Carrasco, Uruguay

Services:
Passivhaus certification

Casa SgCosta: Passivhaus Plus home, Sitges

liver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings has carried out the Passivhaus Plus certification of this single-family home in Sitges, Catalonia, designed by the architect and Passivhaus Designer Sergi Gargallo of SgARQ Passivhaus Architecture.

Casa Sg Costa

Passivhaus

Praxis cabecera proyectos

Description

Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings has carried out the Passivhaus Plus certification of this single-family home in Sitges, Catalonia, designed by the architect and Passivhaus Designer Sergi Gargallo of SgARQ Passivhaus Architecture.

During the Passivhaus certification process, Praxis audited the calculations and design documents presented by the Passivhaus Designer, including the PHPP energy model, thermal bridge calculations, architectural and HVAC drawings and reports, the Blower Door test report, the ventilation commissioning report, and photographic documentation of the construction process, to ensure that the building was built as designed and as calculated in the PHPP model.

Photos: Joan Giribet

More information about the project in our Blog article: https://praxis-rb.com/casa-sg-costa-passivhaus-plus-en-clima-calido/

Links:

International Passivhaus Projects database

Spanish Passivhaus Platform (PEP) project database

Year: 2022

Location: Sitges, Cataluña

Services:
Passivhaus certification

The academic year kicks off in Praxis! We interviewed two of our students to find out how they got along.

The academic year kicks off in Praxis! We interviewed two of our students to find out how they got along. The academic year has also started in Praxis. For this autumn we’ve prepared two Passivhaus courses we’re very excited about We want to share with you the experiences of two of our students, who are …

The academic year kicks off in Praxis! We interviewed two of our students to find out how they got along.

The academic year has also started in Praxis. For this autumn we’ve prepared two Passivhaus courses we’re very excited about

We want to share with you the experiences of two of our students, who are successfully skilling-up in Passivhaus construction.

Casa Sg Costa

Photo: Joan Giribet

The academic year has also started in Praxis. For this autumn we’ve prepared two Passivhaus courses that we’re very excited about. On October 24th, we start our Construction Verifier course, and on November 7th we’ll begin our Site Supervisor course. Both courses (currently in Spanish only, but soon available in English!) will help you gain advanced skills to successfully meet the on-site challenges of large-scale Passivhaus builds.

We want to share with you the experiences of two of our students, who are successfully skilling-up in Passivhaus construction. We’re really happy to see how more and more professionals are working towards creating sustainable and energy efficient architecture. We spoke with Toni Picó, CEO of Growing Buildings and Passivhaus Tradesperson, and Álvaro Martínez, CEO of Martinez Gil, technical architect and Passivhaus Designer.

I feel very satisfied. It’s everything I hoped for and more!

“The course has an eminently practical tone, without skimping on the theoretical concepts. I’ve learnt a lot from the different teachers, talking about real projects.”

Toni Picó

CEO at Growing Buildings

Passivhaus Tradesperson

I’ve taken a step further as an expert in Passivhaus

“I’m really happy to have taken the course. I highly recommend it to professionals who want to prepare for getting on-site with high-performance building projects.”

Álvaro Martinez

Technical Architect

Passivhaus Designer


Praxis: Which course have you taken with us?

Toni P: I did the Passivhaus Site Supervisor course and passed the exam, so now I have the additional qualification of “Site Supervisor”, the add-on to my Passivhaus Tradesperson qualification, which I already had. When I heard that Praxis was giving this course, I didn’t hesitate for a moment to sign up, so that I could become the first professional in Spain to achieve this qualification!

Álvaro M: I took the Construction Verifier course. I managed to pass the exam, so I’ve got the additional qualification of Construction Verifier, the add-on to my Passivhaus Designer qualification. I’m the 1st certified Construction Verifier in Spain so I’m excited about that!


Praxis: What was your work like, before doing our course?

Toni P: I’ve been working for more than 25 years in the real estate and construction sector and 6 years in the Passivhaus sector. I work as Project Manager or Main Contractor, for the construction of single-family Passive Houses. From now on, I’ll also offer the Site Supervisor service for developers, homebuilders, contractors, and architectural and Project Management practices, who are building high-performance buildings to Passivhaus standard.

Álvaro M: I have been working in Ibiza for about 10 years, and lucky enough to have participated in several Passivhaus projects.


Praxis: What led you to sign up for the course?

Toni P: I’ve built several passive houses and I have been working with Praxis for many years, so I was confident going into the course, and excited to learn new skills to help me improve the Passivhaus building projects that I’m working on. Above all, I’m keen to apply what I’ve learnt and do the Passivhaus Site Supervision on other projects now!

Álvaro M: : I’ve known the Praxis team for a while now, both in the teaching and professional fields, so that gave me a lot of confidence.

Praxis: How do you feel after doing our course and how has it helped you?

Toni P: Very happy to have done it, with the feeling of having learned and having taken another step forward as an expert in Passivhaus construction.

Álvaro M: I feel very satisfied, it’s everything I expected and even more. The course has had an eminently practical tone, without skimping on the theoretical concepts. The general level of the classes has been very high. The diversity of speakers talking about real projects has been very instructive. The course really fills the gap between theory and practice, by training technicians in the on-site challenges of Passivhaus buildings, as Site Supervisors and Construction Verifiers.


Praxis: Who would you recommend this course to?

Toni P: To any professional working on-site in high-performance and Passivhaus projects, whether designers, project or site managers.

Álvaro M: To any professional interested in Passivhaus, and more specifically to construction professionals who want to be specifically prepared for the on-site challenges of high-performance projects. Having previously trained as a Passivhaus Designer and Tradesperson and with on-site experience, I feel that the course has perfectly closed the loop between theory and practice.


Check out our next courses (currently in Spanish only, but soon available in English!)

Icono curso Supervisión

Supervisión de Obra en Edificios Passivhaus

Curso oficial Passivhaus, para obtener competencias avanzadas para la ejecución de obras Passivhaus. Si tienes la titulación Passivhaus Tradesperson, te prepara para el examen para la obtención del título “Supervisión de obra Passivhaus”.

¡Inscripciones abiertas!

Fecha inicio: 07/11/2023

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Curso Supervisión de Obra en edificios Passivhaus

Verificación de la Construcción en Edificios Passivhaus

Curso oficial Passivhaus, obtendrás competencias avanzadas de planificación, gestión, ejecución y entrega de obras Passivhaus. Si tienes la titulación Passivhaus Designer, te prepara para el examen de la obtención del título “Verificación de la construcción Passivhaus”.

¡Inscripciones abiertas!

Fecha inicio: 24/10/2023

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    Lekunberri: Passivhaus Classic home

    Praxis has carried out the Passivhaus Classic certification of this single-family home in Lekunberri, Navarra, designed by the architect and Passivhaus Designer Pedro Mariñelarena Albéniz, together with Itziar Iriarte Zubiría.

    Passivhaus home in Lekunberri

    Passivhaus

    Praxis cabecera proyectos

    Description

    Praxis has carried out the Passivhaus Classic certification of this single-family home in Lekunberri, Navarra, designed by the architect and Passivhaus Designer Pedro Mariñelarena Albéniz, together with Itziar Iriarte Zubiría.

    This single-family home was designed and built using bio-construction criteria. Outer walls are made of exposed CLT panels, insulated externally with 240mm of wood fibre insulation and natural lime render. A Zehnder Q350 HRV unit provides mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. The timber window frames were supplied by Iribarren, a local manufacturer located in the Navarra region. The house achieved an impressive blower door test of n50 = 0.27 ach. A De Dietrich ALEZIO S 6 MR air-to-water heat pump delivers space heating with underfloor heating, as well as producing domestic hot water.

    Links:

    International Passivhaus Projects database

    Spanish Passivhaus Platform (PEP) project database

    Year: 2023

    Location: Lekunberri, Navarra

    Services:
    Passivhaus certification

    Learnlife’s Eco Hub wins the Low-Tech Prize in the prestigious Green Solutions Awards 2022-2023

    Learnlife’s Eco Hub, the Passivhaus Classic certified pop-up learning space located in Castelldefels, Spain, has won the Low-Tech Prize in the Green Solutions Awards 2022-2023!

    Learnlife’s Eco Hub wins the Low-Tech Prize in the prestigious Green Solutions Awards 2022-2023

    El Eco Hub de Learnlife gana el Premio Low-Tech

    Learnlife’s Eco Hub, the Passivhaus Classic certified pop-up learning space located in Castelldefels, Spain, has won the Low-Tech Prize in the Green Solutions Awards 2022-2023!

    6 experts from the sector analysed the submissions and praised the Eco Hub for the social aspect of its spaces, as well as the non-permanent structure, which blends in with nature and reduces the environmental impact of the building.

    Designed by Sol Espoille, with Ramiro Chiaradia as collaborating architect, and Praxis Resilient Buildings delivering Passivhaus Consultancy and Blower Door testing, the Eco Hub is a pioneering learning space, sustainability, and innovation centre, built on the sea front in Castelldefels, near the city of Barcelona. The project provides a scalable, modular, prefabricated construction system for the rapid assembly of healthy learning spaces with good air quality and thermal comfort, fit for warm climates.

    Exterior Eco Hub de Learnlife
    Interior Eco Hub de Learnlife

    Learnlife is an organisation based in Barcelona whose goal is to build an open ecosystem for a new lifelong learning paradigm alongside existing education systems. Christopher Pommerening, Learnlife Founder, said: “We’re honoured to receive this prestigious award. The Eco Hub was designed to provide a learning environment that enables children to flourish, connects with nature and has a positive environmental impact.

    “The award recognises this and highlights the possibilities for change in developing purpose-inspired learning spaces that have wellbeing and the environment as pillars of their design.” 

    Certificado Casa Pasiva

    The Eco Hub is built from a series of prefabricated lightweight timber modules, built off-site, and assembled in-situ, installed on screw pile foundations, meaning it can be disassembled in the future, moved, and re-assembled elsewhere. The design team prioritised the use of healthy, low emission materials, with low embodied energy, including internal finishes with low-emission paints on fibreboard made from recycled gypsum and cellulose fibres from post-consumer waste. The module is equipped with a Passivhaus certified Zehnder mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, and a 2.73 kWp solar PV array that generates around 90% of the building’s energy consumption.

    Do you want to build or retrofit a nearly-zero energy learning space with excellent air quality, great comfort, and absurdly low energy bills?

    Contact us here and let’s talk through your project.

    Photos: Jordi Vila Marta – Argotphoto

    Links: